On Thu, 5 May 2005, Robert Shimmin wrote:
We actually have a draft rule to apply for such orphaned works, but it is not in place yet because we have not received sufficient legal guidance for me to feel comfortable applying it (in case you didn't already know this, as CEO my main most important role, though not usually one that takes the most of my time, is to manage PGLAF's risk. The majority of our risk comes from decisions we make about the copyright status of works we distribute).
Is the delay because you have insufficient legal advice as to whether PGLAF is indeed a "library or archive," insufficient advice as to whether web distribution is one of the exempt activities in 108(h), or insufficient advice as to whether the "reasonable price" tests mentioned in the draft policy are duly diligent.
We have received very good conservative legal advice that Project Gutenberg is indeed a library or archive, and probably both, and has been for over a decade. The risk we worry about concerns how well we do our copyright research for eBook we label as public domain. Even if we are 99.99% accurate, that means we have likely at least one mistake in our listings. I am not a lawyer. . .this is NOT a legal opinion or legal advice. IANAL = I am not a lawyer. mh